Miraculous Moments Set Up Massive Playoff-Like Game vs. Montreal At UBS Arena
Will UBS Arena be rocking for Islanders vs. Canadiens?
Imagine if the New York Islanders had sold off completely at the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline.
Sure, the Islanders may have had more draft capital, but UBS Arena would have been a ghost town for the final 11 home games post-deadline.
Instead, general manager Lou Lamoriello allowed his team to stay competitive in the wild-card race. While it hasn’t been smooth sailing, these last two comeback victories have set the stage for a playoff-like atmosphere at UBS Arena on Thursday night when the top wild-card seed Montreal Canadiens come to town.
The Canadiens, the hottest team in hockey with points in 10 of their last 11 games (8-1-2), currently hold a three-point lead over the Islanders for that last wild-card spot.
I do want to go back to the deadline for one second because there are many of you reading this thinking, “Well, this team doesn’t have a shot at a deep playoff run even if they find a miraculous way to sneak in.”
That may be true and who knows what happens.
But, what we’ve learned through Lamoriello’s post-deadline presser and insight from conversations with many around the league is that the market for some of the players that could have been moved — Kyle Palmieri, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Adam Pelech, and Ryan Pulock, to name a few — was that the return wouldn’t have helped the Islanders stay in the race.
While the Palmieri decision will be looked back on for a bit, especially if he walks in free agency, the other players didn’t have to be traded on March 7.
Lamoriello never said he wasn’t willing to trade players for only picks. He just wasn’t willing to go that route on March 7, but could certainly do so at the 2025 NHL Draft without seeing his players lose value.
I think that’s a rather important point.
